---
title: "Technical Assistance (TA) Facility to strengthen Rwanda's Social Protection Sector: Exiting Poverty Rwanda Programme"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "FOREIGN COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE"
published: "2025-09-23"
---

# Technical Assistance (TA) Facility to strengthen Rwanda's Social Protection Sector: Exiting Poverty Rwanda Programme

Buyer: FOREIGN COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f

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## Summary

The Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is proceeding with the extension of a contract with Cowater International for the Technical Assistance Facility aimed at strengthening Rwanda's Social Protection Sector as part of the Exiting Poverty Rwanda Programme. This procurement process falls under the services category related to foreign economic aid. The extension will last until 30 June 2027 from its original completion date of 31 March 2026 and increase the budget by £1.8 million within permissible limits. This adjustment follows Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, facilitating amendments to existing contracts without a prior competition call due to economic and technical reasons. The FCDO based in London, United Kingdom, will unlock £15 million in donor funding through this extension, and a standstill period of 10 calendar days post-publication allows relevant parties time for review before contract execution.

This extended contract presents business growth opportunities for large enterprises, particularly those specialising in foreign economic aid services while requiring robust technical expertise and capacity-building capabilities. It suits businesses with proficiency in economic aid services and understanding of Rwanda’s social protection systems, as continuity is crucial for programme success. This procurement method—conducted in absence of a broad competitive bid—highlights dependability and established relationships as key competitive edges, thus favouring companies with pre-existing technical knowledge and strategic partnerships in Rwanda. As such, firms established in development diplomacy could prospectively benefit, leveraging Cowater International’s successful ongoing contributions since their initial contract in 2021.

## Notice

This Notice corrects an error in value of the contract as published under notice 2025/S 000-058840. The TA Facility will provide technical expertise and capacity building to the Government of Rwanda and support the effective implementation of its Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan (SP-SSP) and ultimately a strengthened national social protection system, as well as the delivery of FCDO's Exiting Poverty in Rwanda (EPR) programme which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce overall poverty.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

This Notice corrects an error in value of the contract as published under notice 2025/S 000-058840. This is a voluntary ex ante transparency (VEAT) notice. This notice is to indicate that the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) proposes to extend the contract with the named supplier for the Technical Assistance (TA) Facility to strengthen Rwanda's Social Protection Sector: Exiting Poverty Rwanda Programme in a manner that is necessary to support a responsible exit from the programme . This contract extension will increase the contractual value by PS1.8m as set out in the original contract and a 15 month time extension. The Technical Assistance facility provides technical expertise and capacity building to the Government of Rwanda and support the effective implementation of its Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan (SP-SSP) and ultimately a strengthened national social protection system, as well as the delivery of FCDO's Exiting Poverty in Rwanda (EPR) programme which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and reduce overall poverty. This extension will enable continued delivery of the technical assistance facility which provides technical expertise and capacity building to the Government of Rwanda. Additional information: This contract was awarded to CowaterSogema International Inc as per contract award notice (https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/f822e7a8-824a-4bc6-a559-606a0ce62366?origin=SearchResults&p=1) External ID: f822e7a8-824a-4bc6-a559-606a0ce62366

Options: The original contract included options to extend the right to extend the programme by up to 1.5 years with a maximum, potential 50% increase to budget of the initial contracted value. This modification will extend the contract by 15 months from 31 March 2026 to 30 June 2027. It will increase the financial limit by PS1.8m. which is within the 50% increase of budget as initially tendered.

### Procurement Information

This Notice corrects an error in value of the contract as published under notice 2025/S 000-058840. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) intends to award a 15 month extension to the Technical Assistance (TA) Facility to strengthen Rwanda's Social Protection Sector: Exiting Poverty Rwanda Programme. This amendment is made under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which permits modifications because additional services by the original contractor have become necessary where a change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons. FCDO considers that the extension can be awarded without prior publication of a notice under Part 2 of the Public using the procedure in regulation 99(3) (VEAT notice). The modification does not exceed 50% of the original contract value. The extension to 30 June 2027 is necessary to allow FCDO unlock PS15m in additional donor funding that is crucial to enable a responsible exit from the programme in a way that minimises harm to its beneficiaries. The nature and scope of the contract remain unchanged. This amendment does not materially expand the contract scope. Cowter International will continue to deliver the same core services. Proceeding with a new procurement would introduce significant risks, including loss of the additional donor funding, the potential for duplication of costs already borne, reputational risk with host government and adverse development impact on the most vulnerable beneficiaries. Additionally, a change of supplier would be impractical due to technical knowledge of the supplier on the Rwanda Social Protection System, trust, and well established relationships with the host government. These attributes are not readily transferable. Before entering the proposed contract amendment, the Authority will observe the standstill period of 10 calendar days from the day after publication on the UK e-notification service required by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 at regulation 99 before executing the amendment allowing all relevant parties adequate time to review and respond.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058956-2025 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 23 Sep 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 3 Mar 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £7,677,885 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | FOREIGN COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1A 2AH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | COWATER INTERNATIONAL |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 75 - Administration, defence and social security services

### Codes

- 75211200 - Foreign economic-aid-related services

## Release History

- 23 Sep 2025 at 14:03 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/058956-2025

## Notice URLs

- http://www.fcdo.bravosolution.co.uk
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/notice/f822e7a8-824a-4bc6-a559-606a0ce62366?origin=SearchResults&p=1
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/foreign-commonwealth-development-office/about/procurement

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a04f.json.